Have you read the extremely popular, #1 NYT Best Seller, Atomic Habits, written by James Clear?
I’d say if you’re like almost everyone else on the planet, you have a few habits that are not serving you and a few new ones you’d like to cultivate.
James Clear tells us in this page-turner that all habits – both bad and good have to do with identity and systems.
Clear writes that the key to building lasting habits is focusing on first creating a new identity. Because our current behaviors reflect our current identity. Step by step he takes us through the process of identity change.
Within this new identity, he looks at our systems. He tells us, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” It’s not about you having trouble changing your habits, the problem is not you. The problem is your systems.
I’m using the lessons found in Atomic Habits. One specific area is my breakfast habits.
This all started with a trip to the doctor’s office that resulted in an abnormal electrocardiogram reading. As it is with these things, that has led to a flurry of additional physical exams (all of which, so far, are showing very normal results.)
However, on my way home from that initial appointment, try as I might, I could not resist the urge to consult Dr. Google.
And Dr. Google told me to do four or five things (in terms of behavior change.) But the behavior change that got my attention was to “eat smaller meals.”
It was freaky seeing this on Google because before the EKG I was starting to look at the sheer heft of my morning meal.
I enjoy a large breakfast. It’s not at all unusual for me to have a pancake, topped with cottage cheese and fruit, eggs, and a couple of veggies washed down with a cup of decaf coffee and water.
Beth is different than me with regards to the morning meal. When I stayed with her for about 10 days last summer, I noticed something shocking.
She has a smoothie for breakfast.
Fruit (berries and a banana) protein powder, coconut water, powdered beets, powdered greens. Swirl it up and that’s breakfast folks.
If someone told me that breakfast was a smoothie, I’d immediately wonder what I’d done wrong. What heinous, dreadful, crime had I committed that deserved such a severe punishment as a breakfast smoothie?
Put another way, I’m not a cold, blended drink girl.
What I am is a 600/700 calories on a plate girl. Late in the morning, but usually before noon, I take my first meal of the day. It’s high in everything - protein, carbs, and non-starchy veggies. Of course, I watch the fats.
So, who’s right here? Beth with her protein smoothie, or Penny with her lumberjack breakfast. Or is it simply just a matter of preference?
Or is it an even bigger question? Why and when did we start to think breakfast was the most important meal of the day? Who says?
As it turns out, the research on the importance of a good breakfast is very much like the history of the 10,000 daily step goal. Both seem to be very clever marketing-related events.
The idea of clocking 10,000 daily steps was invented as part of the marketing campaign for an early pedometer ahead of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
The importance of a nutritious breakfast can be traced back to the late 19th century. Dr. John Harvey Kellogg believed that eating a healthy breakfast was essential for good health and advised his patients to fill up in the mornings. And of course, we all know that Dr. Kellogg went on to develop a highly successful cereal company in Battle Creek, Michigan. His first product was Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, which today still ranks in the USA as one of the most commonly consumed brands of breakfast cereal.
But what’s even more interesting is that both the 10,000 steps and the importance of breakfast turned out to be scientifically researched and substantiated as valid information.
Let’s look at the work of Michael Greger, M.D.
He’s a very big deal in the nutrition, food safety, and public health arena. His books, How Not to Die and his cookbook, How Not to Die Cookbook, are NYT Bestsellers. His fabulous website, well-researched and full of incredibly useful information is well worth your time and attention if you’re like most of us – on a health and fitness journey.
Dr. Greger endorses a nutritious breakfast. He tells us the research is conclusive and that the association between skipping breakfast and obesity is beyond question.
So, you be the judge. We can probably all agree a morning meal is indeed beneficial for a healthy lifestyle. But does the size of the meal hold any importance?
Dr. Greger weighs in on this topic. He tells us indeed morning caloric intake metabolizes differently than evening calories. If you’re going to eat a larger meal, it’s best to eat it in the morning.
I’m no doctor, but I think the actual size of the meal is a matter of preference and lifestyle.
Beth is satisfied with a small smoothie because she consumes it much earlier than I scarf down my much larger meal. Also, I have a daily habit of fasting cardio in the morning hours. So, I’m assuming when I finally eat breakfast, I’m simply hungrier.
We're curious about your mornings. Do you like a big breakfast, or can a slice of toast and coffee hold you until the noon meal? We’d love to know. Talk to us in the comments.
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